Inactive Accounts - Delete or not to Delete?

[newperson]

I go through my members lists often. If I see people with post counts less then five, and I know they don't have a reason for not posting, then I give them a week. i pm them, warn them with a week to reply with an excuse to being inactive, and if that week is up I delete them. It is just for me to keep an accurate account of how many role players / members I have.

[palebird]

What's the point in joining a forum if your not going to post? Of course you have to take into consideration, of family life etc but still I think it's just plain rude.

When it comes to deleting memers, I usually delete those who have 0 posts. I give them up to two months and if they want to come online in that time and post then there usually safe.

What is another pet peeve of mine, is those members who just sign upto your forum so they can advertise their own. If members do that I delete their accounts, it seriously bugs me. Of course their accounts help the total number of members on the forum, but I would rather have those few active members than have a large group of inactive ones.

[Draco]

I myself delet accounts that is inactive. I send out emails reminding them to post before hand. and I also have a special msn account just to be contacted at. SO if they wish not to keep it tell me so but if not their gone. The way I look at it if you are not sure if you will be active dont bother to register. It takes up my time and others going threw accounts and chasing them down everytime i turn around.

[Royce]

I go ahead and keep the old users. In a few instances, some would be inactive for months and then out of no where they come right back. I think it would be unfair unless its just years of inactivity. I don't know there schedule so i have to leave it up to them wheteher or not there coming back.

[HoudiniDerek]

Mar 7, 2008 20:51:39 GMT -8 Royce said:

I go ahead and keep the old users. In a few instances, some would be inactive for months and then out of no where they come right back. I think it would be unfair unless its just years of inactivity. I don't know there schedule so i have to leave it up to them wheteher or not there coming back.

On non-RP forums, I agree. To me, you just never know what might be keeping them away. I know that sometimes (even on an RP forum) you lose the inspiration to post about the main content of the forum. I am on a TV show website and if you don't watch it all the time, you cannot talk about it all the time. Sometimes it takes a piece of news or a rerun or something to get you spurred back into it.

RP forums are touchy though. I know a break can be healthy from there too, but activity usually works best on an RP forum to keep it active. I have a year-long activity policy, but I understand people that have shorter ones, especially for non activated accounts and such.

[kelendria]

What is another pet peeve of mine, is those members who just sign upto your forum so they can advertise their own. If members do that I delete their accounts, it seriously bugs me. Of course their accounts help the total number of members on the forum, but I would rather have those few active members than have a large group of inactive ones.

I know EXACTLY what you mean, those type of accounts get deleted on mine too.
A little off topic but I don't allow ANY advertising on my forum except in profiles & affiliation.
Even then they have to contact me via PM only.

I also think it's plain rude to join & not post, I do allow personal issues, problems, etc.
But come one why join a board & never post? Like why did you join in the first place?
I usually wait 6 months then delete the 0 accounts, though I try to give them the benefit of the doubt.

[Angelica]

If a member is inactive for to long(about two months)without good reason, I delted, after sending a E-mail saying that if their inactive for much longer, I'n going to delted their account. Then I wait about a week or two before delting that account.
Like I said before(not here, but on oher forums), I rather have ten members that post all the time, then have 100 members and only ten or so are active.

[amolicious]

I remove membership from my board after a few months of no activity. I do send out an email 1st letting member's know i will be removing inactive accounts.

Personally for me i really do not see much point in keeping memberships that are totally none active.

[Shentino]

I'd wait until their posts are invisible. Releasing a username opens the window up for a new account to inherit the old posts (numeric, monotonically increasing UID's anyone?).

Personally, I won't delete an account unless they are idle for a long time with no posts.

[Princess-Star-Angel]

I have a tendency to leave inactive members unless they have NEVER posted or have been gone for more than a few monthes. People get grounded, their computers screw up, etc. I ignore them unless the pile-up is too big. Then I'll go in and clear it out. If they hold some sort of position of power (ie. staff, or an important character) I'll email them first.

[Former Member]

I never delete inactive accounts. Someone on my forum was registered in 2004 but around 2007 he became an active member

[Shentino]

Mar 13, 2008 3:38:24 GMT -8 @kuubebloxckx said:

I never delete inactive accounts. Someone on my forum was registered in 2004 but around 2007 he became an active member

I'd keep an eye on that sorta thing...sudden and sustained activity after dormancy could indicate a cracker.

This, alas, is one reason that I *am* tempted to delete, or at least lock down dormant accounts.

[KONOHA]

I delete inactive accounts after some time, but I always e-mail them with a warning of about a week before I will delete their account and then I'll send them any important information as well should they want to join again.

[camwatcherscafe]

We have stated in our rules that accounts inactive for 30 days will be deleted unless the admin is made aware of a reason why.
We then go through every 30-60 days and send e-mails to members that have not posted. We give them a week to get back to us then they are deleted. Most join again. Third time the IP is not allowed anymore.
We also have a lurkers post where one is invited to tell us they are lurkers and there for the information.
We feel this is very liberal.

[liza123]

Feb 16, 2008 21:12:30 GMT -8 Enchant said:

In other threads, we have touched on the topic of inactive accounts. In this thread we will discuss the topic a bit more in depth. How important is it to have an accurate member count? Do you keep your inactive accounts or do you delete them? If you keep them, is it for the appearance of a higher member count or some other reason? If you delete them, how often and why?

I personally delete my inactive accounts. I usually have it done quarterly. If not it falsifies the forums actual posting stats. It makes the forum appear to be less active then it is. I would rather have low member count with high posting, then high member count with low posting. I do give notice via, post, pm and email when the time arrives.

You mean that need to delete members who is not active in forum?